


Across The Universe

by pourpl



Series: Fics I Will Never Finish [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder, M/M, Mutual Pining, Sappy, Unfinished, and i stopped writing it cuz its overdone, blade! keith, but you can see where its going right?, idk its stupid, long distance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 15:10:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13126263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pourpl/pseuds/pourpl
Summary: “Look, Keith. I have a feeling that this war is only going to get harder.” The tone of his voice had shifted dramatically, it rested in a low place of solemnity and fear. “We had a lot of missions back then that were more fun and games then they were high-stakes. But I don’t think that’s going to continue.”“What are you saying?” Keith’s voice came out smaller than intended, like a dejected child.Lance placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder in a swift motion. “You’re going to see a lot more death. We all are. And I don’t know the Blade like you do. But I know that they’re not little kids. Not like us. So I wanted to give you something to laugh at. Something to remember us by. To remember me by.”Keith gave a tight smile. It was all he could muster.“Whenever you need a pick-me-up, just...look at the bark and think of me screwing myself over to impress some girl.”





	Across The Universe

**Author's Note:**

> Part of Fics I Will Never Finish, a collection of works that I gave up on because I'm horrible.   
> So yes, this is incomplete. Don't hate me, I thought posting it would be better than just leaving it in my notes forever!

“And this,” Allura said, extending her hand to Keith. “is a cerebrally-transmitted multi-galacilar wireless communicator.”

Keith peered down to see her offering a silver metal piece, about the size of a stick of gum with an ear-shaped hook around it. “It looks like an earpiece.” 

“A what?” 

“You know, like, for businesspeople. When they talk on their phones. A bluetooth headset.” 

Allura blinked. “What’s a ‘buisnesspeople’?” 

Keith sighed, taking the earpiece from Allura and fastening it to his ear. Allura shrugged and reached over to tapped the side of it, a dull “bzzz” ringing through Keith’s head. 

“It’s on. All you have to do is tap it twice if you want talk to us, once to turn off.” Allura explained. 

“Us?” 

“I gave each of the paladins one as well, so it is easier to talk to each other. So we won’t lose touch. It’s mostly for...personal affairs...than in battle since we still have the coms.” 

Normally, Keith would object from such a trivial thing, yet it seemed as though Allura and the other paladins put thought into it. And as much as he tried, Keith couldn’t deny the fact that he was going to miss them. He concluded that it would be nice to stay connected, and it was reassuring that the others felt the same.   
Though he wasn’t exactly sure what Allura meant by “personal affairs”. Keith had never really been one to communicate about things outside of the war and Voltron with his fellow paladins. But maybe that would change since he wouldn’t be with them physically anymore. Then again, when would he have time to talk to them anyway? When he wasn’t sleeping for three hours max, he would be on missions. 

But when Keith opened his mouth to protest, all that came out was a “Thank you.”   
Allura smiled and drew Keith in for a loose hug, shuffling her feet closer to him. Keith had never really been one for hugs--or Allura, for that matter--but he hugged her back, knowing one day he would long for her hugs. Their relationship had always been rocky, but she was still the reason why Keith was able to live in space and pursue a life-long dream of his. He now understood more about who he was and his true purpose than ever before, and he could really only thank Allura for that. Space was always his home, even when he hadn’t been there. And without Voltron, he probably would have never gone. 

So he hugged her back, as a silent thanks for words he didn’t know how to say. 

Suddenly, his earpiece began to vibrate, startling Keith out of the embrace. 

“Is it working? Is it working? KEITH!!! KEITH BUDDY CAN YOU HEAR ME??” Lance’s shrill voice reverberated through his skull. Keith bent over in pain, hands clamping over his ears like that would help. 

“Yes Lance! It’s working!” He spat through gritted teeth.

“oH AWESOME!!! WHERE. ARE. YOU. RIGHT. NOW?” He said slowly as if the advanced Altean technology wouldn’t undoubtedly produce crystal-clear audio. 

“Lance, you don’t have to yell. I can hear you fine. I’m with Allura in the hangars.” 

“Oh. Hi Allura!” Lance chimed. Keith could practically hear the stupid grin on his face. He glanced up to Allura who was fiddling with her bayard, oblivious to their conversation. 

“Wait, can you not hear that?” Keith asked her, tilting his head. 

“Hear what?” She looked up. “Oh, Lance? No, the technology sends the information straight to your brain without any actual audio. Incredible, isn’t it? Pidge and Hunk had to tweak it so it would transmit through a singular circuit-wire, but it was originally designed by my uncle Jephr--” 

“She can’t hear you, Lance.” Keith cut her off in an admittedly rude fashion. 

“Phooey. Well, we’re all coming down in a second anyway, don’t go anywhere.” 

“Lance, no I have to lea--” But the earpiece clicked off with a soft chime before Keith could finish. He let out a puff of air, pacing over to the fighter jet to lean on its door in waiting. 

“What did he say?” Allura asked, joining Keith near the wing. 

“They’re coming down to say goodbye, I guess.” 

 

Allura’s eyes crinkled, the corners of her mouth rising. “They already said goodbye.” 

“I know! And it’s not like we’re never going to see each other again.” Keith spoke with jocose ease, yet Allura didn’t respond and the words hung in the air like a threat. Of course, Keith planned on seeing them again, but the objectives of the Blade weren’t exactly a guarantee of anything. The missions were of high risk and low calculation, each soldier themselves being completely expendable. It wasn’t like Voltron where they made sure each task was premeditated for success fortuity--the Marmora would jump at every chance they received. And as Keith was never afraid of jumping into a void, the reunion of him and his friends would never be definite. 

Fortunately, the uncomfortable truth of silence was broken by the clamoring of Hunk, Pidge, Coran, Matt, Shiro, and of course Lance’s feet. They ran into the hangar, closing in on the space where Allura and Keith stood. 

“Sorry to keep you waiting. We just wanted to say goodbye.” Coran smiled.

“Again.” Shiro said. 

“Again.” Coran said, as if it was obviously necessary. 

They each pulled Keith in for a hug separately this time, the familiar tight feeling of dread washing over Keith. This was only prolonging the part that Keith had planned to skip, part of what made Keith want to leave the group behind in the first place. He didn’t want to become attached. Yet he did, and now he didn’t want to say goodbye. Goodbyes always hurt. Why were they making him go through this again? The more time he spent hugging his friends, the more he was going to regret his decision to leave.

When it was Lance’s turn to hug him, a variety of shame and embarrassment filtered across his face. It was almost cute, as if he was blushing at the prospect of individually hugging Keith. But he did it anyway, a little tighter and a little warmer than the rest of them. His chin fit perfectly in the crook of Keith’s neck.   
“I’m gonna miss you, buddy.” He whispered at an almost unintelligible volume. This comment shocked Keith, and now he was the one blushing (much to his dismay).   
Lance was the one to pull back, fingertips lingering at Keith’s arms a little too long before breaking off to the side, head darting away before Keith could gauge his expression.   
Hunk came next, wrapping Keith into a giant bear hug and lifting him off the ground slightly, which made Keith roll his eyes despite the grin plastered on his face. 

Matt was last, shaking his hand with idle amiability before moving to stand by Pidge, who was wiping away tears again. 

Keith looked at his team and they stared back, admiration and pride flushed in their faces.

“I guess this is it.” Keith said, folding his hands together in an out-of-character motion. He was unsure what to say.

“This is it.” Shiro echoed. 

“Don’t do anything stupid.” Pidge said, practically choking out the words. 

“Think before you act!” Coran bellowed, as if this was something that Keith could ever be capable of doing. 

“Make us proud.” Allura beamed. Lance was uncharacteristically silent. 

They all began to shuffle off, Matt consoling Pidge and Hunk as Coran and Allura chattered about training plans for the next day. Keith was going to miss that.   
He turned away, moving to the back of the fighter to place a tiny black sack full of the bare essentials of Keith’s few belongings and some snacks that Hunk made. He thought about Hunk’s cooking and his Castle bed he had gotten used to, realizing he had no idea what he was going to eat or where he was going to sleep from this point forward. He shook his head to clear the thoughts from it. It was unimportant now. 

“Wait, Keith.” A voice came from behind him. He swiveled around incredulously to find Lance running up him. 

Keith folded his arms across his chest, raising an eyebrow in dubiety. 

“I...wanted to give you this.” He reached out to place something in Keith’s hand. 

It was a piece of reddish bark, crumbling at the edges and thinning in the middle. Keith looked at Lance perplexedly. 

“Remember when that Nyma chick chained me to that tree?” Lance explained, a smirk spreading across his lips.   
Keith snickered. “I had to save you and your lion’s sorry asses.” 

“Yeah, well.” Lance laughed. “While I was waiting for you to come back to get me, I starting picking off some bark from the tree subconsciously.”   
Keith looked down at the piece, feeling it lightly in between his thumb and forefinger. It felt like Earth bark, with a slight fuzzier texture. A little more dense. 

“I don’t know why I kept it. At first I couldn’t stand looking at it--it only reminded me of my blatant failures as a result of my impulsive attraction to women. But after awhile it made me laugh. And I--” 

Lance stopped mid sentence. Keith looked up to study his face, which was twisted into mild anguish. He was staring at the floor with intensity as if he would find the right words to say there.   
Then he looked up at Keith, and he could have sworn that he saw tears in Lance’s eyes before they were blinked away. 

“Look, Keith. I have a feeling that this war is only going to get harder.” The tone of his voice had shifted dramatically, it rested in a low place of solemnity and fear. “We had a lot of missions back then that were more fun and games then they were high-stakes. But I don’t think that’s going to continue.” 

“What are you saying?” Keith’s voice came out smaller than intended, like a dejected child.   
Lance placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder in a swift motion. “You’re going to see a lot more death. We all are. And I don’t know the Blade like you do. But I know that they’re not little kids. Not like us. So I wanted to give you something to laugh at. Something to remember us by. To remember me by.” 

Keith gave a tight smile. It was all he could muster.

“Whenever you need a pick-me-up, just...look at the bark and think of me screwing myself over to impress some girl.”

Keith smiled bigger this time, placing a tentative hand over Lance’s which was still resting on his shoulder. “That’s sure to make me laugh.”   
Lance reciprocated the grin before pulling Keith into his chest again. He clutched him there there like his life practically depended on it. It was strange, but it felt nice--even to Anti-Hug Keith. 

Keith was the one to pull back this time, grief beginning to burn in this chest . 

Lance folded Keith’s fingers around the bark and smiled up at him. He then walked away silently, Keith hesitating to follow him with his eyes.

It was time to let go. 

He had never really understood what Lance was to him. A rival? An enemy? An ally? An accomplice? A friend? Sure, they had they had plenty of arguments. But was their bickering the true essence of their relationship, or merely a display of their polarity as people? Did Lance actually hate him like he so-often claimed? Clearly not, because why would he miss him if he hated him? Earlier, his words rang of “Who else am I going to make fun of?”. But it felt as though it was more of a formality than a true representation of Lance’s feelings towards him. It was a predictable comment, something that he would expect to spew from Lance’s mouth in such a pensive situation. Lance never failed to revert to teasing as a way to lighten a mood in a somber atmosphere. It was easier than being honest, it was easier than dealing with an emotion. It was his way of coping, and Keith could understand it.  
But Lance was also not afraid to say what needed to be said when it needed to be said. When Keith was uncertain, Lance had always known exactly what to say


End file.
